Corporate social responsibility

The social dimension of ENOC’s sustainability programme integrates with the Group’s environmental and economic efforts. The overall framework comprises four elements: environment, community, employee wellness, and volunteering. Each element is supported by a wide range of activities – from education to famine relief; from personal wellness to maintaining a green economy.

Community

ENOC’s network of partnerships is a vital element in efforts on behalf of the community, working with the World Green Economy Summit, Dubai Autodrome, Suqia, UAE Red Crescent, Arabia CSR Network, Bait al Kheir, Dubai Police, and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation. Similarly, membership of related organisations has an important role. ENOC belongs to the Emirates Environment Group, Dubai Green Economy Partnership, World Wildlife Fund, and CSR Label.

Community activities also include working with the United Nations World Food Programme, international cooperation that has so far contributed US $111 million and helped 57,000 people. Domestically, ENOC’s community involvement covers events and campaigns such as blood donations, Al Noor Fun Fair, Clean up the World, My Family Reads, World No Tobacco Day, Challenge Programme, Clean up UAE, and Heat Stress and Heat Exhaustion.

Notable community-related activities during 2017 included the partnership with Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, offering annual membership for a group of 135 orphans and giving them opportunities to hone their creativity and talent in art, music and crafts.

The orphans come from ‘The Family Village’ – a ‘hope for the future’ project with a vision to offer a healthy, safe and secure home for orphans in Dubai by providing them with health, nutrition and, most of all, love and care.

The project aims to enrich the orphans’ sense of belonging, as they are part of the UAE, and to develop and build their psychological sense of being part of the nation, society and economy.

ENOC also announced the start of the application process for the ENOC Energy Scholarship Programme, a post-graduate Master’s degree in Energy Management from Heriot-Watt University in Dubai. The programme offers four UAE nationals in ENOC, and externally, the opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree.

Volunteering activities by ENOC employees are another important facet of community engagement. In 2017, employees were involved in the preparation of 10,850 school kits that were distributed to National Charity Schools under the auspices of Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organisation working to improve children’s access to quality primary education. Employees also participated in ENOC’s Minutes of Giving campaign, helping to prepare more than 500 care packages.

Exploration and Production operations in Turkmenistan

Dragon Oil allocates about US $13 million annually to social initiatives and training programmes, undertaking various projects for the benefit of communities in Hazar, the hub of its operations in Turkmenistan, and in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital and largest city, where Dragon Oil was an official partner of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games during 2017. Activities include making repairs and infrastructure development; educational and social facilities, including schools and hospitals; and sponsoring various sports, educational and cultural events.

Training the citizens of Turkmenistan is a priority. Dragon Oil invested more than US $1 million during 2017 to improve the professional capabilities of the company’s national employees. About 145 training events were conducted, in which more than 5,600 national employees participated.

A High-Potential Programme was introduced in 2010 and now has 56 employees from various departments. High-potential employees are actively working on their development to close their competency gaps, using methods such as self-learning, e-learning, and project assignments. In 2017, four programme participants were promoted – two to deputy superintendent in logistics and two in offshore operations.

The Higher Education Assistance Programme aims to support academic activities that relate to the organisation’s identified knowledge, skills and competencies, and offers different levels of education, from diploma to Master’s degrees. Some 30 employees are now enrolled in the programme, including five during 2017. Four employees graduated during the year and a further four are expected to graduate in 2018.

In collaboration with Tomsk Polytechnic University, Dragon Oil arranged and conducted entrance examinations in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the Russian language, for the top 20 school leavers who applied for scholarships. Based on the exam results and other critical indicators, the selection committee awarded scholarships to five Khazar people in 2017, bringing the total sponsored by Dragon Oil to 21.

Environment

ENOC’s CSR journey has been marked by many notable achievements, particularly in environmental education. Working with the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, for example, has resulted in some 2.25 million members of the community learning about marine wildlife and conservation.

As a strategic partner of Emirates Environmental Group, we share the belief that education is key to achieving environmental success. The Group serves as a creative platform for tomorrow’s sustainability champions to come together and discuss contemporary environmental issues via public-speaking competitions and debates. A total of 77 UAE schools and 517 pupils participated in 2017, as well as 69 universities and 515 students from across the MENA region.